"Yes'm, old friends is always best . . . 'less you can catch a new one that's fit to make an old one out of." ~ Sarah Orne Jewett
I have no idea who originally spouted this quote (figured it out after the fact) but I find it to be quite ambiguous and really touching. Don't we all start out as new friends? And those who make the cut, over time, become the old friends (literally)?
This has only popped into my head recently, after about 15 years of being buried in my cerebral cortex. The reason? Let's just say I am no longer immune to drama, in fact, I seem to be a drama magnet--sadly, not the kind that is self-perpetuated . . . and well, being the selfless person that I am, I've decided to allow *wink* my old friends some peace. Instead of burdening them with all of my recent crapola, I've chosen to only call them on birthdays or on days when I have nothing negative to report. Call me a bad friend but it's really a matter of protecting those friendships to a certain degree. Don't get me wrong, I ♥ my older friends but this I do know, they've got enough on their plates with out my dumping a jar full of old and moldy cherries on top!
My new approach is to make new friends who don't have any memories of my old drama to base their perception of me on. This can be quite helpful on most days when I need to rant and tug my hair about something my old friends would roll their eyes about (because it's technically the same-s#i+-different-decade scenario). But really, what I'm saying is that it's just nice to have the fresh perspective of someone looking in, someone who sucks at the geography of me.
"You keep getting what you've been getting, when you keep doing what you've been doing." ~ Pastor Kenny Barnett.
Perhaps I've been missing something all these years? My problems seem to repeat themselves under one cloak or another but the difference this time is that with the help of my "new" friends, I am better able to see myself as the person I am today, not the person my old friends still think I am. Thus, I find it's easier to change my approach.
So, to my new friends, cheers! Without you and your little waving flashlights on the runway of life, I'd be headed for another bumpy landing!
And to my old friends, I'll see you out at the baggage claim--we can catch up while we watch our tattered bags go round. ♥
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